Pair charged with transporting kids in hot U-Haul truck

Ohio News

Dec 22, 2017

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man and woman have been charged after authorities say they transported five children in the back of a U-Haul truck on a sweltering summer day.
Fifty-five-year-old Brian Dekam and 26-year-old Jamie Adkins, both of Cleveland, are free on bonds after being indicted on child endangering charges Thursday in Lorain County.
Authorities say the pair was arrested Aug. 2 when they stopped at an Elyria gas station for drinks while traveling to Cleveland. Concerned Elyria city workers stopped the truck from leaving and found five sweat-soaked, flea-bitten children ranging in age from 2 to 15 inside the cargo box.
The 2-year-old was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. Temperatures that day reached 85 degrees.
Adkins told police she was babysitting the four youngest children.
Messages were left Friday with attorneys for Dekam and Adkins.